Oilers celebrate but know things would be tough without Zach Hyman: ‘He means everything’

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EDMONTON — The Edmonton Oilers are one win from returning to the Stanley Cup Final, a spot they’ve been targeting since their heartbreaking Game 7 loss a year ago.

Their 4-1 victory over the Dallas Stars in Game 4 of the Western Conference final included many of the touchstones of their run over the last month, which has included 11 wins in their last 13 games. There were contributions from all over the lineup, backed by more solid work between the pipes from Stuart Skinner, who had 28 saves.

Things are mostly rosy in Oil Country, as the path to the Stanley Cup feels more real with each impressive performance. But not everything is perfect.

“Part of it felt like we were doing it for Zach, to get the job done,” veteran forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said.

Right winger Zach Hyman left Tuesday’s game and didn’t return after receiving a hit from Mason Marchment midway through the first period. It didn’t look good from the moment it happened.

Hyman dropped his stick and favored his right arm. He immediately skated off the ice and to the Oilers’ dressing room 9:17 into the game. That was it for him, after 3 minutes, 11 seconds, of action.

Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said he would provide an update on Hyman’s status on Wednesday, after he gets the full report from team doctors. Perhaps there’s some good news coming, but it sure didn’t sound positive.

“It’s big hole to fill,” veteran winger Corey Perry said. “He brings a lot to our team, a lot to our lineup. He’s a workhorse.”

Hyman typically returns to games from incidents that make many wince just from watching. It’s difficult to track how many times he’s hobbled off the ice after being hit in the knee or the foot by an Evan Bouchard bomb, only to come right back. When a Bouchard blast deflected off a stick during a December game against the Florida Panthers and broke his nose, he had his beak reset, put on a full visor and returned to the game.

Let’s just say that for him to miss more than 50 minutes of a playoff game is atypical.

“He’s a top player for us,” defenseman Brett Kulak said. “Tough to lose anybody, but especially he brings an element to the game and to our team that not too many guys around the league can bring to their team. It was tough to see him leave. Hopefully, he’s all right.”

Any absence from Hyman that extended beyond Tuesday’s game would be a massive blow.

The last two playoffs have showcased the range of his skill set. He followed up a 54-goal regular season in 2023-24 by scoring an NHL-best 16 times in the postseason. Those 70 tallies tied former Toronto Maple Leafs teammate Auston Matthews for the most in the league in the regular season and playoffs combined.

This postseason, he has recorded five goals and 11 points in 15 games — including two goals and an assist in Game 3 — all while bringing a massive physical element as well.

“He means everything. He’s a workhorse. He’s a dog on a bone on the puck,” Perry said. “When he’s forechecking and hitting and finishing like he did last game, that’s Zach Hyman.”

With two hits before he left Tuesday’s game, he upped his total to 111 in 15 games. He’s 15 hits from the single-season playoff record of 126, set by Tampa Bay Lightning winger Blake Coleman in 2020.

“I’m just trying to be more physical,” Hyman said before the game. “I’m a guy who gets in on the forecheck in the regular season. If someone passes by, maybe you wouldn’t hit him. But in the playoffs, it’s an investment in a way.

“When I’m playing with Connor (McDavid), I’m probably playing against the top D pairing every night. Those guys are pretty skilled. If you can get in on the forecheck and be physical against them, maybe you don’t see it in the first couple games, maybe you don’t see it in (Game) 3 or 4 — but maybe you do. That’s the mindset. It’s not about getting as many hits as I can. It’s just about being physical. Our whole group has really bought into that in many different ways.”

Hyman doesn’t normally wear a letter on his jersey, but he’s undeniably a leader on the Oilers. He has been a perfect fit from the moment he signed a seven-year contract in July 2021.

“He is a cliché,” Skinner said. “He is a hard worker. He grinds. He does all the little things right. On top of that, he’s an amazing human being. You can ask anybody. Everyone loves that guy.”

The Oilers deserve a ton of credit for the way they carried on without him.

Fellow right winger Connor Brown didn’t play because of an injury incurred in Game 3. Knoblauch debated whether to use 11 forwards and seven defensemen if top-pairing defenseman Mattias Ekholm (lower-body injury) had been healthy enough to make his 2025 playoff debut. He wasn’t, so Viktor Arvidsson took Brown’s place after five games as a healthy scratch.

The Oilers would have been down to 10 forwards after Hyman’s injury had Arvidsson not been playing. They still had to manage with 11 skaters up front for more than 50 minutes of the game.

“The way that we responded was fantastic,” Skinner said. “You saw a lot of guys step up, skate hard, hitting guys the way Hymes has been hitting. It’s really important to respond like that when something like that happens.”

“Everyone stepped up,” Knoblauch said. “Go through the lineup and I liked how everyone just played a little bit better.”

There was so much to like about this Oilers win.

Skinner was outstanding again. He has allowed only two goals in this run of three consecutive wins, after he posted consecutive shutouts to close out the second round. His only blemish was giving up five goals — four in the third period — as part of an Oilers collapse in Game 1 vs. the Stars.

Nugent-Hopkins continued his excellent play in this series. With primary assists on power-play goals from Leon Draisaitl and Corey Perry, he’s up to nine points in the series, the most by a player through the first four games of a conference final since Wayne Gretzky had 10 in 1988.

The Oilers’ power play scored twice in game for only the third time in the playoffs.

The Oilers are now up 3-1 with a chance to advance to another Stanley Cup Final with a win in Dallas on Thursday.

“It that doesn’t get you excited, I’m not sure what will,” Draisaitl said.

Hyman leaving the game cast at least a bit of a pall on that excitement.

All is not lost. Far from it. As Draisaitl said in the morning, he feels this team has the best depth it has had in his 11 seasons as an Oiler.

Already without Brown, and now possibly without Hyman, that depth might be put to the test. If the Oilers go with 12 forwards for Game 5, the most likely scenario would see Jeff Skinner playing his second career playoff game. The six-time 30-goal scorer has been scratched since playing the opener of Round 1.

“That’s a big loss,” Draisaitl said of Hyman. “Collectively, I think we have what it takes to make up for it.”

The Oilers were able to do that on Tuesday. But any longer-term scenario that doesn’t include Hyman is a whole other challenge.

(Photo: Steph Chambers / Getty Images)

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